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Issued:
2018-03-12

U2 frontman Bono issued an apology this weekend after several staff members at the ONE charity he co-founded described a culture of bullying and abuse at the organization’s office in South Africa.

A broad investigation by British newspaper The Mail on Sunday found repeated accusations of misconduct in The ONE Campaign’s Johannesburg office, including claims that staff members were regularly called derogatory names, forced to do domestic work in the home of a manager, and forced to run personal errands for superiors.

In one case, a married female employee of the charity alleged that ONE Africa executive director Sipho Moyo demoted her and slashed her salary after she refused to have sex with a Tanzanian MP. Moyo denied the claim.

In a statement to the Mail, Bono said the charity — which he co-founded in 2004 — had “failed to protect the workers,” which had left him “reeling and furious.”

“I need to take some responsibility for that,” he said. “We are all deeply sorry. I hate bullying, can’t stand it.”

In addition to the claims of bullying and abuse, the charity is also accused of tax evasion, and of illegally hiring foreign workers on expired visas. According to the Mail, the charity is now facing a £3.6 million lawsuit brought by seven former staff members, though Bono himself is reportedly not named in the suit. – READ MORE